Meet the Enviropreneurs of 2008

July 14, 2008

Nicolás Boullosa
Barcellona, Spain

Nicolás Boullosa is a journalist, entrepreneur, and CEO of *faircompanies, an independent website providing information regarding fair trade, corporate social responsibility, responsible consumption, ethical investment, alternative energies, and related topics. Nicolás has focused his journalistic work on the Internet and new technologies, along with social and economic themes. He has been editor-in-chief of the magazine Digitalware, coordinator of the site iActual, director of contents for ETD Internet, and a monthly collaborator for the Playboy magazine in Spain. He has written two books for the Spanish editorial Anaya Multimedia, Ocio digital [Digital leisure] (December 2002) and Proyectos multimedia: imagen, sonido y vídeo [Multimedia projects: image, sound and video] (March 2004). Nicolás has a degree in journalism from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He is passionate about reading and the Internet. He likes good non-fiction and history books, independent music, cheese, wine, coffee, and exploring interesting places, whether urban or natural; hiking and running are almost everyday activities.

Kyle Bryant
Hampton, GA

Kyle Bryant is an environmental scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency. He earned his B.S. degree in zoology with a minor in chemistry from Fort Valley State University (FVSU) in Georgia. As an undergraduate, he interned with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Nevada Operations Office in Las Vegas, which provided him with numerous certifications in environmental safety and health. Kyle has worked on various types of projects, professionally and through volunteer efforts, including the presentation and publishing of technical research at national scientific conferences. His experience includes management of both the Cities of Atlanta and Fort Valley’s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiatives, many of the City of Atlanta’s watersheds management and storm water infrastructure projects, and as Grants Management Specialist at FVSU. His desire to support environmental issues and build partnerships with traditionally under-served communities, combined with his technical acumen and research capabilities, are reflected in Kyle’s personal branding statement: "A vision-minded, creative and technically progressive Environmental Scientist that catalyzes innovative thinking as I strive to exist between the worlds of Education, Technology, Public Health and the Environment."

Cory Carmen
Wallowa, OR

Cory Carmen was raised on a cattle ranch in Wallowa Valley, Oregon, where her family has lived since 1913. After studying at Stanford University and working in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, she returned to rural Oregon in 2003. In response to a huge demographic shift and influx of new owners in her community, Cory began a management company called Wallowa Land Services that encourages new property owners to learn about sustainable management and integrate with the local community. In addition, she and her husband, David, operate her family’s 2000-acre ranch, raise registered cattle, sell grassfed beef and are engaged in multiple habitat and ecosystem restoration projects. She is also part of the county budget committee, sits on the board of Wallowa Resources, a local non-profit, and is working with a group of local ranchers to explore collective marketing options for grassfed beef. Cory loves being part of a rural community, spending time on the ranch with David and their three small children, and escaping into the wilderness when even the rural life gets too hectic.

Chris Corbin
Missoula, MT

At a young age Chris Corbin was told, "Do what you love." He has been pursuing his passion for water ever since. He left his home in Northwest Arkansas to explore the fabled waters of Montana and pursue an education. He graduated from the University of Montana with high honors in aquatic wildlife biology and environmental studies. Upon graduation, Chris accepted a position as project manager of the Montana Water Trust and served as chairman of the board for the Bitter Root Water Forum. To further his education, Chris returned to the University of Montana and earned an MBA. His education in conjunction with additional consulting experience as a water right specialist for PBS&J led him to pursue an entrepreneurial vision for a water marketing company. He launched Lotic, LLC, based in Missoula, Montana, in the fall of 2007. When he is not working, Chris can be found on local rivers with Madison, his golden retriever, at his side and a fly rod in his hand.

Karen Eller
San Francisco, CA

Karen Eller is an associate director of philanthropy for The Nature Conservancy. She first joined the Conservancy’s Texas Chapter after graduating from Trinity University with a B.A. in English and minors in geology and environmental studies. In 2002, she opened a new philanthropy office in Austin where she built the Conservancy’s first major gift program in the Austin market. In 2004, Karen was recruited to join the major gift fundraising team in California, based in San Francisco. She is an avid outdoor enthusiast and enjoys connecting Nature Conservancy supporters in Silicon Valley to projects that inspire their passion for global conservation. Karen’s personal passion is developing the market for green burial in America. She serves as both a volunteer and consultant for the Green Burial Council, which, among other things, is trying to set industry standards for green and conservation burial in America.

James Friscia
Boston, MA

James Friscia is originally from Long Island, New York, and currently works for Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting firm. He specializes in growth strategy and business design development across a number of industries. Recently, James pursued a non-profit fellowship with the Nature Conservancy, where he focused on economic modeling and presentation of new financial tools for property and conservation easement purchases in New York. James graduated from Princeton University, where he majored in politics and earned certificates in political economy and political theory. In his spare time, he enjoys surfing, tennis, fishing, tutoring, travel, marine biology and ancient history.

Tom Iseman
Denver, CO

Tom Iseman is the director of the freshwater conservation program for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. He works to protect rivers and wetlands and the plants and animals they support across Colorado and the American Southwest. He has served on statewide and regional water supply planning efforts, including Colorado’s Statewide Water Supply Initiative and the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. Tom has also worked at TNC’s on-the-ground river and wetland projects, applying new tools in partnership with local stakeholders to protect rivers and streams directly. He currently serves on the board of the Colorado Water Trust. Prior to coming to TNC, he worked for the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. focusing on water and hydropower issues for the Office of Policy. Tom grew up in Englewood, CO, and received a B.A. in history from Princeton University (focusing on Western water issues) and an M.S. degree from the University of Michigan in freshwater ecology. He enjoys running, biking, and skiing but is inept at fly fishing and kayaking.

Virginia Jamieson
Toronto, Canada

Virginia Jamieson is the founder of Warming Trend Global Communications. She is a PR specialist who provides strategic counsel on topics including corporate positioning, press relations, story mining, media audits, trend reports and online communications. Virginia provides these services to clients whose communications campaigns have highly scrutinized and complex environmental components. She is also a technology PR specialist with twelve years of communications experience with clients including Apple, HP, Dolby, Sun Microsystems, Adobe, Jawbone, OQO and AMD. Last year Virginia led the global communications team and award-winning PR campaign for the launch of the Jawbone world-wide. She is passionate about communications and the environment, and believes she can help mitigate the effects of climate change by communicating key messages, issues, and environmental facts through the media.

Josh Klaus
Missoula, MT

Josh Klaus works with U.S. and international teachers and student groups to create life-changing learning opportunities through Ecology Project International (EPI). He oversees a field program in the Galápagos Islands and is responsible for generating the majority of EPI’s revenue. Previously, Josh studied ecology at the School for International Training in Quito, taught elementary school in Oakland, California, and coordinated logistics for a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador program in Cuba. He holds a M.Sc, in environmental studies, a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and international studies, and is a licensed teacher. Josh is enthusiastic about experiential education, cross-cultural interaction, international conservation, and small-business development, and when not pursuing his love for the Spanish language and traveling in Latin America, spends his free time crooning Dylan covers with his blue Bolivian guitar, rock climbing, working in the garden, or backpacking in the wilds of western Montana. Current projects include improving his hunting skills, growing a year’s supply of garlic, learning Portuguese, and officiating a few weddings this summer.

Natalia Machain
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Natalia Machain is a lawyer specializing in environmental law and management in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She coordinates several conservation projects and acts as consultant to various foundations and NGOs, focusing on native forest, private conservation and ocean preservation issues. Natalia is currently leading efforts to organize "Nature, Economy and Environmental Policy," the first civil society organization in Argentina focusing on economic policies for protecting ecosystems and natural resources. In her free time, Natalia loves to share a good mate, a popular natural Argentinian tea-like drink, with her husband on a rest trip near a mountain or on the beach, or while watching a good movie at home. She also enjoys reading about biology, especially about evolution and the development of life on earth, taking care of her plants and pets, and is trying to get better in practicing her yoga.

Jeff Masten
Durham, NC

Jeff Masten is the director of conservation strategies for Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC), a land trust located in Raleigh, North Carolina. He directs the conservation planning, land protection, and stewardship programs for TLC covering the six-county "Triangle" region, home of Research Triangle Park. Jeff coordinates an active conservation program with numerous federal, state, county and local public and private partners and funders. He manages a staff of seven conservationists identifying, protecting and stewarding important conservation land. Under his, leadership the conservation program has increased the acreage protected five times, increased the annual number of conservation projects four times, and developed two new North Carolina State Park units. Jeff holds an M.S. in urban and regional planning from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. in finance from Northeastern University in Boston. He spent five years in the U.S. Army in Germany, and spent three years working for BASF in Boston as a national logistics manager. Although not a native Tarheel, Jeff, his wife, and three children have grown to call North Carolina their home.

Laura Munro
Demver, CO

Laura Munro currently as consultant for a Denver-based start-up resort development company. She began her career as an executive in children’s television development and production and later acted as a property operations specialist for Exclusive Resorts, the world’s premiere private destination club. Inspired by her international travels from Laos to Haiti and many places in between, her enviropreneur interests pertain to, among other things, sustainable resort development and the emerging carbon tax credit market for protecting primary growth tropical forests. Laura recently completed a Master’s degree in real estate and construction management at the University of Denver. While a graduate student, she performed land investment deals in Costa Rica on behalf of several American investors. She also holds a B.A. in English Literature from Northwestern University and has studied interior design. Originally from Connecticut, Laura has lived in Germany, France, Belgium, and New York City, but is now happy to call Denver home.

Michelle Owen
Phom Penh, Cambodia

Michelle Owen’s formative years were spent growing up in the countryside on the English/Welsh border before moving to the South coast to study biology and geography as an undergraduate. After graduating she spent nine years in environmental consultancy, becoming a specialist in air quality modeling. In 2004, Michelle moved to Cambodia to work with a U.K. NGO in conducting biodiversity surveys in national parks. Since 2005, she has worked with Wildlife Alliance (previously WildAid) to implement a park management model of improved law enforcement, alternative livelihoods, education and awareness, and wildlife rescue and care. After ECamp, Michelle plans to return to the United Kingdom to continue post-graduate studies in conservation.

Daniela Pinto
Aguas Claras, Brazil

Daniela Pinto is the director of projects for the Brazilian Agency for Environment and Technology Information (ECODATA), an NGO based in the capital city of Brasilia. She manages the development and implementation of eco-agro-extractivist projects in the Cerrado region of central Brazil, and directs ECODATA’s partnership with the U.S. EPA and Argonne National Laboratory for reducing mercury contamination in the Amazon basin. Daniela is also the program coordinator for the Canada Fund for Local Initiative, a grant-making program of the Canadian Government which funds small projects focused on social welfare and poverty alleviation in the poorest regions in Brazil. Previously, she worked at The Nature Conservancy of Brazil-Central Savannas Region for eight years as administrative manager and resources information officer. Born in the coastal city of Recife, Daniela currently lives in Brasilia D.F. with her two very active two boys, Luan, age 6, and Joao, age 2, and enjoys wilderness trekking and climbing.

Lotay Richen
Bhutan and
Waltham, MA

Lotay Rinchen has worked as a budget officer in the Ministry of Finance of the Royal Government of Bhutan. He holds a M.A. degree in sustainable international development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts. His interests include responsible tourism, sustainable development, and issues related to the environment. During his spare time, he has also co-managed a travel company in Bhutan for four years and has worked as a licensed tour guide since 1999. He has special interests in community development projects, particularly those linked to the environment, renewable energy, and youth empowerment. This strong personal passion and professional background has led him to the founding of a sustainable travel venture that is Bridge To Bhutan (B2B).

Elyssa Serrilli
NJ

Elyssa Serrilli has been an environmental educator in New Jersey for the past six years. As a two-time AmeriCorps alumna, she is a strong proponent of service learning for individual empowerment and community renewal. Elyssa has worked for NJDEP, NJ Youth Corps, and the NJ School of Conservation, teaching environmental stewardship and leading service projects with youth and adults in urban, suburban, and rural communities. She is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Rocky Mountain Educator Course and a former summer intern at Rancho Mastatal, a sustainable living and education center in the Costa Rican rainforest. In May 2008, Elyssa graduated from Montclair State University with a Master’s degree in environmental education. Her research projects consisted of The Justification and Design of NJ Youth Corps Biodiesel Worksite and Service Learning for Sustainable Redevelopment at the NJ School of Conservation. She hopes to help foster an AmeriCorps-style, service-learning program in green collar industries in New Jersey. In her free time, Elyssa enjoys soccer and ultimate frisbee, mountain recreation, crafts, and primitive living skills.

Ariel Steele
Boulder, CO

Ariel Steele is a former attorney who has decided to "save the world" through land conservation. After working as a lawyer at a Los Angeles law firm and then for the Palauan government on a small Micronesian island, she decided to ditch practicing law and work directly to help preserve the places she loves in this world. In 1999, she started helping landowners in Boulder County, Colorado, put conservation easements on their properties. In 2005, she began working for the company she now owns, Tax Credit Connection, Inc., which helps landowners from Colorado and New Mexico get cash for the tax benefits they receive for preserving their working farms and ranches. For her 40th birthday next year, Ariel plans to hike the entire 482-mile Colorado Trail with her dog, Latte. When she isn’t saving land or hiking, you can find Ariel gardening, camping with her husband Tom, or planning her next business venture.